Squabbling…

Ok.. I have been baited, and took the bait.There is this reader, who chooses to remain anonymous.. and that’s fine. But he clearly is misguided and has bought into the idea what he reads on the Internet is the the whole story.

Cutting room floor… yep I was going to just dump it, but then I thought.. no this guy or gal needs further explanation…So from my little Shangri- la…

Here is the comment in its entirety.. I have inserted my comments within:

I can understand your desire for the perfect troop, your idea of Shangri-La. [what we can’t have a Shangri-la..why live if we can’t enjoy life] It’s much easier to start from scratch than to fix what’s broken, [I never said anything was broken.. and like I said, those Troops are still alive and well. Very active even. But if we had to do it all over again… we still would not join those troops. You might want to go back and reread the Troop Shopping post.] especially if many in the existing troop don’t see what needs fixing. [again..nothing broken..just not what we thought Scouting was all about, lack of Boy leadership in one case, a group of what I call den mothers running Patrol meetings in another case. I say it was not broken because it seemed to work well for those units, just not what we were looking for in our sons case. I wanted to make sure they got to lead and learn by doing.. We were not looking for a Webelos 3 year.]

What I don’t understand is how, with the many troops listed for your area, you could not find one that was salvageable by your high standards. You, your wife, other parents and all of your sons did not feel comfortable in any of those groups. Rather than dealing with some adversity you and your little clique [yeah that’s what we are… until one Troop visit I did not even know the other parents and Scout leaders. My son was the only one in his den that did not quit after Webelos.] decided to run away and form your own perfect society [No it’s called a Boy Scout Troop that uses the 8 methods to teach the AIMs of Scouting] thereby denying the other troops your knowledge, experience and leadership skills. [ You got me there]

You have the same basic view of your blog. You allow the comments that agree with your point of view to post but the others end up on the cutting room floor. [I am trying to portray Scouting as a positive thing… if you read half of the crap I get via email..you would dump it too… Not productive to call names and bad mouth the BSA] Life should be so simple [it is…it’s Boy Scouts.. you are making a mountain out of a mole hill]. My main point is that you have deprived your sons of the opportunity to face the challenges that we all face in our lives each day in our less than perfect world. [oh no… our troop faces the same challenges as any other troop. They have an advantage in that they have 4 OUTSTANDING Assistant Scoutmasters that care for them. They teach, coach, train, and mentor the boys through those challenges and ensure that the outcome is one of success.. they call that learning. The boys of our Troop have a Scoutmaster that loves and cares for them and the program. One that lets them lead, make decisions, and learn from mistakes. One that understands that 12 year old boys are 12 year old boys and they have enough crap to worry about… Scouting should be an escape in some cases. No our boys have not been deprived of anything. Where do you think the new Scouts in our Troop come from? Shangri- la? No they are class mates, friends, Sunday School friends, friends from their sports teams. Our Boys recruit their friends to be in the Troop because they have fun and adventure.. the stuff we did not see in other Troops. Our Boys canoe down the Columbia, Climb the big cliffs, snow cave in the mountains, and have logged miles and miles of our wilderness area… Yeah.. come to think of it.. it is Shangri-la. Oh and by the way… the Boys are the ones that write the plan. These are all their ideas.. that is how a Boy Scout Troop works.] They have missed the chance to stand up for what they think is important and invoke change. [see last comment.. I think you are talking out of school] Your boy led troop was created by a parent led ideal of what a troop should be [yep..that’s how it is supposed to work. Key here is we created it..they keep it alive] . And you keep it perfect by suggesting to new parents that your troop may not be the place that they want to be [Nope..we offer our flavor, I would rather see a boy and his folks get what they want than drop out. If a kid cringes when we say we do a lot of backpacking, then he will probably not like our Troop. Don’t you think that is fair? The fact is that there are options out there.. we just offer another option..]

Shop on! [after 5 years, I think we are happy with our purchase]

Ok.. so now I have officially taken bait and been pulled into the boat.I hope that Mr. or Mrs.. or Ms. Anonymous is satisfied with the results of the discussion. I have said it before and I know I will say it again..This program that we love.. its for the Boys. I do not do this for me, although I do get a lot of satisfaction from seeing these young men grow and and develop in character and citizenship. I take pride in teaching them leadership and seeing them practice the things that will make them successful as leaders one day.I have been trained by the best leaders in our nation and have practical exercises all over the world testing leadership skills and achieving success. translating that knowledge into Scouting and passing it on to the Scouts of our Troop is the best job I have ever had and the most rewarding.Blogging is a way that I share that, I welcome all comments, although as stated, I will not let negative comments shine a bad light on Scouting. So yep, I reserve the right to throw it to the cutting room floor.. or hit delete as the case is. I am sorry if that does not make it eyes of the “We have it so bad crowd”… It’s only Scouting.

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2 thoughts on “Squabbling…”

What a fantastic response! And thank you for moderating your comments. I’ve seen the war of words that can occur between Scouters on various forums. I mention this site to my Scouters AND Scouts and am glad you always have a positive spin on the BSA!Thank you!Bryan

I agree that any blogger has the right to remove any comments he feels does not adaquately support the aims and methods that blogger uses. I continually read your blog for insight in my own Troop. Yes each Troop is unique but the fact remains each person has something to say and whether it is useful or not is up to the person reading the information

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